Okay, I get it; the reason Obama doesn’t have a birth certificate is that he’s from Mars.
I know the point he is trying to make - but what happens when the alien invasion doesn’t materialize??
Do we keep spending on weapons to fight imaginary space invaders? Who then pays down the debt for that build-up? Will not the private sector reduce spending and employment, as they have now, because of this focus on preparation for alien invasion - and Gov’t need to pay for it?
Krugman will just bring us right back to where we are now.
I think it’s called “Enfer” in French . . .
The concept is that in the face of a common enemy dedicated to destroying us, we would cast aside or differences and work together to preserve ourselves.
70 years ago, maybe.
Now, we not only coddle the common enemy of islam, but we invite it in, give it special privileges and protections and generally enable the enemy to undermine us politically and physically.
Even if aliens acted like on “Independence Day” the cowards in Congress and the executive branch, and liberals all over the would say it was our fault the aliens attacked because we “disrespected” them.
So those Obama’s purple shirt are our first line of defense against alien invasion?
Planet Kolob?
So Krugman is saying his stimulus solution didn’t work because we underestimated the size of the (imaginary) alien force?
We’re being invaded by the planet Stupider.
The Krugiot is a krugiot.
This raises the question in my mind as to what additional substance is being introduced into "recreational drugs" in the New York area? Does Bloomberg have the same supplier?
We can’t seem to handle an alien invasion from Mexico, so I’m pretty sure we’d be helpless against one from outer space.
“Solman asked: “are you suggesting then that there needs to be some collective fiction?””
Krugman’s REAL response should have been:
“Of course. We call it liberalism.”
I think Krugman misses the point of the World War II recovery.
The war era itself was a period of enforced austerity: on the home front we had rationing, victory gardens, and bond drives, and on the field the troops led lives of unimaginable austerity.
After the war, our economy took off because we had no competition - everybody else of any importance had their countries bombed all to hell. The Europeans didn’t recover from the war for decades - and then only with our help.
So it wasn’t the “common enemy” (alien or not) that brought us out of the war, it was the sacrifices inherent in fighting a war, and the economic advantages of winning one that were most responsible.
Now where’s my damn Nobel Prize?
They’re not aliens.
They’re undocumented intergalactic travelers.